The Enlightened
by Aryestelle
Summary: In a time before toontasks, gags, and cogs, three powerful organizations arise within Toontown, all vying for power. When young Zircon finds his childhood being torn apart by the conflict, he chooses his allegiance. Little does he know how significant this single choice will be in shaping his destiny, or even that of Toontown itself. Prequel of sorts to The Outskirts.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **This is a prequel of sorts to another story of mine, The Outskirts. They share some aspects but you don't need to read one to read the other.

**Chapter 1**

It had been a beautiful morning. The sky had been clear and bright blue with only mere flecks of cloud to disturb the brilliant cascade of sunshine burning down happily upon the ground. The temperature had been mild and pleasant with an occasional warm breeze disrupting the crispness of the air. The pleasant buzz of the chatter of toons and the enthusiastic yapping of doodles being walked had filled the Toontown Central playground quite nicely.

Zircon had been enjoying this beautiful morning with his family. They had been having an early picnic on the playground's soft grass. The blueberry pie had been delicious.

But within one moment, this beautiful morning was lost. For a band of masked cats suddenly advanced upon the playground like angry storm clouds, and from their mouths a wild chant roared out like thunder. "CATS ONLY! CATS ONLY! CATS ONLY!" Then these vile villains tossed from their paws what appeared to be water balloons, but evidently contained something far more deadly than water. The toons that were hit found their laff depleted, many even to the point of descending into the dreaded state of Sadness.

Screams of terror ripped through the air sharply as toons were forced to flee, hurriedly trying to escape the nightmare that the morning had become in the form of these vicious cats. Zircon and his family immediately abandoned their picnic and started to remove themselves from the area, but amidst the chaotic crowd of panicking toons he suddenly found himself separated from his parents and sister. Unable to waste time searching for them as the cats were relentlessly continuing their assault, he simply charged onward toward Punchline Place.

Breathless and in shock upon emerging into the street, Zircon didn't know if he was safe there, so he just kept running on alone. Spotting the entrance to an alleyway, the young toon went over to it and decided that he would hide there until things had died down enough that he could try and reunite with his family.

The dark greenish blue bear sat down against one of the alley's walls, not entirely sure about how to process what had just occurred. He had seen toons fall before his eyes, Saddened in a single second. It was sickening. The young toon had never known other toons to be capable of such a horrific act.

Zircon remained there in the alley for a while, having absolutely no idea of what was going on outside. He had heard some noises—more screams, more chanting. But for the most part now it was completely quiet on the street. The bear had no way of knowing if it was safe.

After waiting for a few minutes longer, the bear gathered his courage and crept to the alley entrance. Peering out into the street, he saw no sign of any other toons around. Deciding that it was important that he find his family, Zircon stepped out of the alley. He headed bravely back in the direction of the playground, and was greeted with a horrific sight upon his entrance.

There was not a single active toon in sight, but the ground was littered with many Saddened toons. They lay quite still, their eyes clouded with the deep, unbearable depression that was the trademark feature of Sadness and made it nearly impossible for afflicted toons to function. Seeing the number of them, Zircon suddenly realized that his family may well have suffered a similar fate. Even so, the bear didn't allow himself to fall into despair—he was determined to find them. If they had indeed been Saddened, he at least needed to know.

And so the young toon searched the playground, examining each Saddened toon he came across to assure himself that it was not his sister or his mother or his father. To his relief, he finished his examination without finding any members of his family. Now, though, it became a question of where to look for them next.

Zircon decided to check Loopy Lane first, as he remembered seeing his family heading in that direction before they had gotten separated in all of the chaos. Like in the playground, many Saddened toons lay on the ground, and Zircon took a look at each one. There were also some non-Saddened toons about who stood or sat in corners of the street with dull, grief-filled gazes, but Zircon did not know any of them.

When the young toon had reached the end of Loopy Lane he turned around and walked back to the playground, which was still quite empty. He then proceeded to go into Silly Street and search there. It was in pretty much the same state as Loopy Lane, though perhaps there weren't quite as many Saddened toons lying on the ground there. And once again by the time he had reached the end of the street he had not been reunited with any of his family members, and so he headed back to the playground.

The bear knew that it was unlikely that any of his family members would be found on Punchline Place, but he continued his search for them there. After this, he would have no idea of where to go and try and find them next—they could be just about anywhere, perhaps even Saddened for all he knew.

Prior to that tragic morning, Zircon had been living an average life in Toontown Central. The large, dark blue bear had been doing quite well in his classes and always put forth his best effort. The young toon had often thought more highly of himself than the other children, but he got along with them fairly well most of the time. He had consistently dreamed of greater things, but generally been happy with his present situation.

It was both strange and sad now to think that within one morning that entire life had been shattered. He had no idea of where his family was, or likely many other toons that he had known. Some of the other young toons that he had attended classes with were likely among the large number of those now afflicted with Sadness.

Upon reaching the end of the street without locating his family, Zircon was about to start thinking about what to do next when he noticed a thin bright red horse standing close to the tunnel that connected Punchline Place to Barnacle Boulevard. This itself was not exactly startling; what struck the bear was the single thick black stripe that ran around the horse's snout. The young toon had never seen a horse with such a stripe before. Perhaps this one was a foreigner?

Suddenly, the horse started walking over to the bear. Zircon wondered if the older toon had caught him staring.

The horse dipped his head in greeting as he approached the younger toon. "Do you know what occurred here?" he asked in a quiet voice. His gaze was solemn and unemotional.

"Yes. A whole group of masked cats came into the playground chanting. They threw water balloons filled with something horrible that Saddened a lot of toons," Zircon informed the horse.

The older toon nodded in understanding. "So it is as I have heard."

Since the horse seemed perhaps knowledgeable, Zircon inquired, "Do you know who these cats are?"

"Members of the CATS Corporation," the horse replied briefly.

"CATS Corporation?"

"Cats Are Toon Superiors Corporation," the older toon explained. "They believe that cats are superior to all other toons and should be treated as such. The attack here today was a demonstration of this belief."

Now Zircon recalled that he had heard of such a group mentioned once or twice before. He had never realized that they were this large of a threat, though.

"I should be heading back now," the horse said a moment later while the bear was still thinking about the implications of this group.

"Oh, ok. Bye then," Zircon responded, remembering that he still needed to figure out what he was going to do now.

The horse turned around, took a few steps toward the tunnel, and then turned back around to look at the younger toon with a thoughtful gaze. "Were you a victim of what happened here today?"

Zircon nodded. "My family and I were having a picnic in the playground," he explained.

"Ah. Why aren't you with your family now?" the horse inquired, still seeming thoughtful.

"We got separated," the younger toon told him sadly.

"I see. Do you have anywhere to go?"

"I suppose not," Zircon answered. Without his family, he didn't really have anything.

At this the horse nodded, thinking for a moment before replying. "You seem like an intelligent young toon. If you'd like, I could recruit you to my organization. You would have a place to stay and the opportunity to join us in our fight against the likes of the CATS Corporation."

The horse's offer surprised the younger toon, and he spent several moments considering it. He did need a place to stay, as his family had an estate but at his age he couldn't exactly survive on his own. And CATS Corporation had greatly disrupted his life and also seemed to be set against Zircon's own toon kind, so he would gladly help to stop them…

"What is the name of your organization?" the bear asked curiously.

"The Enlightened," the horse responded.

Zircon felt that he had heard of this organization before, but could not remember anything else about it. He needed to find his family, but perhaps by joining this horse's group he could gain some stability and thus be better equipped to go looking for them. Besides, he had lived an average life for long enough—perhaps it was time for a change of pace.

"I would like for you to recruit me," the bear affirmed.

The horse nodded his head. "You can come back with me to our headquarters now then. My name is Fizzle."

"My name is Zircon," the younger toon returned.

Fizzle nodded at this and then turned, heading for the tunnel once more. After one more glance behind him, Zircon began to follow, well aware that he was walking towards a new life.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **With the last chapter I forgot to mention that Sadness in this story should be thought of as a sort of condition of deep depression where a toon can hardly function. Basically they are hardly aware of the world around them and don't have the motivation to do very much, and thus can't live a normal life. Sadness is also not as easy to shake off as in the actual game; it is quite rare for a toon to be able to recover from Sadness and when they do they often still have some problems. This is just to help eliminate any confusion in the way I'll treat Sadness when it comes up as a subject in the story.

**Chapter 2**

The headquarters of The Enlightened was a large glass dome building located between The Brrrgh and Donald's Dock. The sunlight there shone down less brilliantly than it had in Toontown Central, and a thin, crisp layer of frost was settled over the grass, which crunched underfoot as Zircon followed Fizzle toward the strange structure.

The young bear could not make out an entrance to the place along the glass wall facing them, and as they stopped in front of the building he turned to look at Fizzle with a puzzled gaze. But the bright red horse paid Zircon no mind as he stepped forward and rapped lightly on the strong one-way glass. A panel of glass directly in front of them lifted up after a moment in response, and the older toon entered the headquarters with the younger toon following.

As the panel of glass lowered back into place, Fizzle strode briskly to the left. Zircon headed after him, looking around himself as he walked. The room they had entered was spacious and bright. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, and three long wooden tables took up one half of the space. The other half was filled by an arrangement of pale gray couches and armchairs, which several toons could be seen occupying. They cast curious stares at the blue bear as he passed by.

The two toons reached a small white marble staircase set into the wall, which they climbed quickly. At the top was a tiny landing and a wooden door that had been painted a pale gray like that of the furniture downstairs. Fizzle knocked on the door, and a voice from within told them quietly, "Come in."

The bright red horse complied, and Zircon followed him into a small room. In the far right corner sat a bed with plain white sheets, and to the left and right of the door through which the two toons had entered there were bookcases. A few odd paintings hung on the room's pale purple walls. Besides this the room was empty, excepting the toon which had told them to enter.

This toon was an average-sized green rabbit. She was staring out of the left side of the room, which looked out onto the frosted landscape that surrounded the building. The rabbit did not turn to look at them as she asked, "Who is that with you, Fizzle?"

"A new recruit," Fizzle responded briefly.

"Ah. I take it that you found him while reporting to Toontown Central?" the green rabbit replied. Her voice was calm and quiet, and it carried a sense of wisdom. The toon herself seemed mysterious, otherworldly even, in the way that she kept staring outside, not even looking at them. There was something about such a simple thing as the way that she stood, tall and straight, that spoke confidence, yet her head was tilted to the side in a sorrowful manner.

"Yes. He was a victim of the attack, and now is separated from his family," Fizzle explained shortly. He added, "It was CATS Corporation, as we suspected."

The rabbit nodded. "They are becoming more daring, and we must become more proactive. We will have a discussion about this now; go tell the others while I speak with our newest recruit."

The bright red horse dipped his head respectfully and then turned, exiting the room wordlessly. Zircon gazed after him for a moment before turning his attention back to the rabbit, who was beginning to speak.

"What is your name?" she asked him quietly.

"Zircon," the blue bear told her.

"Hello, then, Zircon. My name is Faith. I am the leader of The Enlightened," the green rabbit explained. "You have obviously agreed to come here, but I doubt that Fizzle has told you much about our group. He is of a quieter sort."

"All I know is that you are in opposition of CATS Corporation," Zircon agreed.

"Yes, that is correct. We do not tolerate toon discrimination here, and would not wish it to overtake Toontown," Faith replied. She paused for a minute and then inquired thoughtfully, "Perhaps you would like to talk more about CATS Corporation later, and instead have me explain more about our group now, though?"

"That sounds good," the younger toon affirmed.

Faith nodded expectantly, but for several moments she remained quiet, simply gazing outside. Feeling confused, Zircon opened his mouth to say something but closed it once more as the rabbit began to speak.

"If I told you that our world was nothing but a game, Zircon, would you believe me?" she inquired quietly.

The question surprised the younger toon, but he merely replied honestly, "I don't think I would."

"And yet it is the truth," Faith responded with a sigh. Her voice grew softer as she went on to say, "We think so highly of ourselves and all that we do, but the truth is that our world is nothing but a game." The rabbit paused, and then said in a more confident tone, "Yet that means that our world is made of code, and so are we. And if we come to accept this, if we become enlightened to the true state of our world, we can find the way to manipulate the code. Or, as it is more commonly known, to hack."

Now Zircon remembered where he had heard of this organization before. It had been mentioned in a news report about hacking that his parents had been watching one night. The thought made the young toon uneasy, but all he said was, "So you're a group of hackers."

"I suppose we are," Faith responded calmly. She paused for a moment and then added knowingly, "I can imagine what you might think about us now. The word 'hacker' has such a bad reputation in Toontown, after all. We do not get much support."

She paused for a moment and sighed. "Many fear us or hate us. But, Zircon, I should like to remind you that this fear, this hate, it all rises from mere ignorance. They do not understand how we do what we do; they are not enlightened to the truth of our world. And so what we do seems impossible, and they do not understand it. As such they decide that we should be eliminated. They say that we are evil for what we do."

There was true sorrow, true pain, in the rabbit's voice as she spoke. Zircon waited patiently for her to continue. After she had remained silent for several minutes he inquired, "So your organization is a group of hackers standing together to protect yourselves from all of the hate?"

"Something of that nature," Faith agreed solemnly. She ventured, "Hacking is not a mere skill. It is a lifestyle. Every day we must know and accept that our world is but a game. That all that exists around us, including ourselves, is but part of this game. That we can do the impossible and defy all that we were taught was beyond our control."

Suddenly, the rabbit spun around and looked at Zircon for the first time. Her gaze was so intense that it forced the blue bear to remain still. All of the sorrow seemed to have melted away, leaving behind a strong, confident leader.

"The question now Zircon is whether this lifestyle is for you. You already agreed to come here, but now that you know more about us you may not want to stay. Should you wish to remain here and become enlightened?" Faith asked him seriously.

Throughout their conversation, the young toon had found himself intrigued by this strange rabbit and her explanation of hacking. Now, she was asking him if he wanted to join them and learn more. The opportunity was terribly exciting, and Zircon knew that he wanted to become part of this group. For a moment, though, he was reminded of his missing family and his old life, but such thoughts had shortly slipped out of his mind once more.

"I want to be enlightened," Zircon answered confidently.

Faith nodded expectantly. "Welcome then, Zircon. You will join us now, and once you have accepted the truth of our world you will truly be one of us."


End file.
